Rubén Aguirre

Not to be confused with politician Rubén Aguirre Ponce.
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Aguirre and the second or maternal family name is Fuentes.
Rubén Aguirre
Born Rubén Aguirre Fuentes
(1934-06-15)15 June 1934
Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
Died 17 June 2016(2016-06-17) (aged 82)
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Notable work Profesor Jirafales in El Chavo del Ocho
Home town Monterrey, Mexico

Rubén Aguirre Fuentes (Spanish pronunciation: [ruˈβen aˈɣire]; 15 June 1934 – 17 June 2016) was a Mexican actor. He is best remembered for his characterization of Profesor Jirafales in Televisa's 1970s television show El Chavo del Ocho. Aguirre also participated in another well known television show of the era, El Chapulín Colorado, albeit less frequently.

Life and education

Rubén Aguirre was born in Santa Anita in Saltillo, Coahuila.

In his book Después de usted, published in February 2015, he wrote about the difficulty of finding higher education institutions in Mexico during the mid 1950s. There were so few schools. This is why in his late teenage years, he moved to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to study in one of the most renowned universities of the time, the Escuela Superior de Agricultura "Hermanos Escobar", where he decided to study Agricultural Engineering.

Once in Juárez, he would regularly cross in to the United States, since according to his memories, "it was so easy to cross the border back then, I remember I would put on my college jacket on and since the gringo would see that you were a student, he would let you through". Rubén Aguirre worked many times as a gardener in El Paso to make ends meet.

It was in Juárez, as well, where he began his career in the world of media as an unofficial radio host and bull fighting commentator. It was so big his passion to become a radio announcer that he paused his college education to travel to Mexico City to get his radio license.

He returned to Juárez and began working as a radio host; he married his wife Consuelo de los Reyes on October 22, 1960, finished his degree in Agricultural Engineering with a minor in Mechanized Systems and some time after he moved to Monterrey, Nuevo León, where he began his acting career and met Roberto Gómez Bolaños.

Work

He began his acting career in Monterrey, Nuevo León, working with a character (a famous clown) named Pipo. His acting caught the eye of Mexican producer Roberto Gómez Bolaños who asked him to work with him in Mexico City. Aguirre went on to Mexico City where he worked on several television scripts with Gómez Bolaños, creator and main star of both El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado.

Aguirre garnered fame across Latin America when both El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado became major international hits. The group of actors that comprised the casts of both shows toured often, and sometimes they would venture out on their own. Aguirre was not the exception, visiting such places as Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Brazil many times. Chespirito owned the rights to El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado. After Aguirre's participation in both shows was over, he moved to Argentina and opened a circus there. Chespirito had no copyrights in Argentina, and Aguirre was able to name his circus El Circo del Profesor Jirafales.

Death

Aguirre died on 17 June 2016, from complications of pneumonia, two days after his 82nd birthday.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ↑ "Rubén Aguirre, o Professor Girafales de 'Chaves', morre aos 82 anos" (in Portuguese). G1. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Notice of death of Rubén Aguirre, globo.com; accessed 17 June 2016. (Portuguese)
  3. ↑ Mexico's Ruben Aguirre who famously played Professor Jirafales in hit sitcom El Chavo Del Ocho dies at 82
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